The American People Have Awakened The Democratic Party

The millions of people who have been protesting have gotten through to Democrats and awakened the party.

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When Barack Obama was president, there was a refrain that grew familiar among Democratic voters. When Democrats lost the House, voters said they were not worried because they still had Obama. When Democrats lost the Senate, voters who supported the party still were not worried because Obama was still in the White House.

What none of us could have known at the time was that those losses were setting the stage for Trump to become president.

If there is one question that it feels like I have been asked every single day of my life since Trump returned, it is some variation of why aren’t Democrats doing something?

The question reflects the idea that the party is a top-down organization, and the people on the ground were looking to the top for leadership. Until Trump, the Republican Party tended to be a party where the people on the ground led the people at the top.

Because Democrats seemed to feel like many of those who they thought were supposed to be leading their party were not, something very important happened.

Democrats and the American people began to organize and lead themselves.

If the elected officials weren’t going to handle this Trump problem, the people would.

The weekend’s Hands Off protests were the largest example of the people taking care of business, and the Democrats are noticing.

Video of Sen. Adam Schiff on Meet The Press:

Adam Schiff was asked about Cory Booker’s record Senate floor speech on Meet The Press, and he said:

Well, I definitely agree with him. I think we were guilty of not thinking big and not acting big. One thing that we see, you know, with the Trump administration is you can move the country far and fast if you have the courage of your convictions, if you're willing to be bold. Now they're being bold in a horribly dangerous, destructive direction which is really hurting working families. But, that's no excuse for Democrats not being bold in our own ideas and pushing the country forward. We're going to have to do that. And there's nothing that succeeds like winning. We just won a big important race in Wisconsin. That is a real shot in the arm. The energy you're seeing now manifest around the country in these mass demonstrations show that, you know, the Democratic Party is waking up.